USB Ethernet Adaptor

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Level 1

96 points

USB Ethernet Adaptor

I purchased an Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor MB442Z/A to use with my MacBook Air 11". On the right hand USB it worked a couple of times. On the left-hand USB it won't work at all. Now it works on neither. I've checked and it is visible in System Profiler, however in the Network settings it says Cable Unplugged. The left hand USB works fine with 3 other devices I've tested. Any ideas?

Message was edited by: Madam

MacBook Pro 15-inch Aluminum (Mid 2010), MacBook Air 11" (late 2010), Mac OS X (10.6.4), iPhone 3GS iOs 4.01

Posted on Oct 23, 2010 10:59 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

anpwq

Level 1

79 points

Dec 1, 2010 6:07 PM in response to anpwq

Solved. I brought both the MBA and ethernet adapter to the Genius Bar today and lucked out on who helped me. The guy there figured it out very quickly based one something he's seen before. Create a new location in the Network preferences. Plug the ethernet cord into the adapter, wait a second or two, then plug the adapter into the MBA. Open a page in Safari and keep refreshing it until it loads. It should recognize the adapter and get a network connection within a minute or two. This fix seems to be a one time thing - I didn't have to do this when I connected at home later.

He's seen problems with the default "Automatic" location in the past on other models too. Perhaps it is something in the install process. Using a new location seems to resolve the problem. If you really want a location named Automatic, delete the default one and rename your new location to Automatic.

Message was edited by: anpwq

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Answer 2

Jun 10, 2011 3:45 AM in response to Madam

Hi!

I have same trouble with MBA 11. I try any variants and find resolve of my trouble.

Step-by-step:

I power on/wek up my laptop. Connection in "System Preference-Network" is "Not Connected" (yellow). "About this mac-Hardware-USB" - Apple USB Ethernet Adapter is not present or present but "Current Required (mA)" is "N/A".

I disconnect USB Ethernet Adapter.

I connect USB Flash Drive.

I reject and disconnect USB Flash Drive.

I connect USB Erhernet Adapter. "About this mac-Hardware-USB" - Apple USB Ethernet Adapter is present andpresent but "Current Required (mA)" is "250". Connection in "System Preference-Network" is "Connected" (green).

It's fantastic, but it's work.

I try connect USB Flash Drive to another USB port without disconnect Apple USB Ethernet Adapter - no result. Connection "Not Connected".

I dont' understand why my Ethernet Adapter prefer "rigth" USB port 🙂

And I have idea about this troubles during charging. Connect Ethernet Adapter more difficulty during charging laptop.

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Answer 3

Drew W

Level 1

4 points

Nov 4, 2012 9:47 AM in response to Madam

For what it's worth, I work at one of the tech 4 (not apple obviously). Lots of us have Macbook Airs and we all have this problem. IT is so aware of it that they issue us Cisco USB adapters and just throw the Apple ones away.

http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-USB300M-Cisco-Linksys-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B001NLV4TQ

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Answer 4

Nov 4, 2012 5:48 PM in response to janet823

You can get the latest AX88772A Mac OSX driver from ASIX web site (http://www.asix.com.tw/download.php?sub=driverdetail&PItemID=97) and refer to the driver installation guide in the driver package to install the latest driver. It should work fine on MBA.

If you still have problems, please provide us more detailed error behaviors for further investigation.

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Answer 5

wifiguru

Level 2

240 points

Oct 24, 2010 12:31 AM in response to Madam

So it says cable unplugged when you have the ethernet cable plugged into the USB ethernet adapter and connected on the other side to a router ?
Connect the USB adapter to the USB port. Launch the Terminal app. and type in
syslog

Paste the last 30 lines you see in the output here. ( If you have some other place where you can copy paste the whole output do that and paste the link here). The logs sometimes have some useful info. to help point out if its something simple.

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Answer 6

ODP01

Level 1

0 points

Apr 2, 2012 8:58 AM in response to Otto Jr

I'm using a non-apple USB adapter that uses the AXIS driver, fiddled around for ages and finally got this to work. Works on both USB ports of my MBA 11" MAC OS X 10.7.3

The fix for me is in the

Network / Advanced / 802.1X tab, I unticked the "Enable automatic connection" box and bingo !

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Answer 7

GOM

Level 1

0 points

Sep 7, 2011 9:21 AM in response to Madam

I had same issue (usb ethernet just stopped working) and happy to report creating a new location in network prefs sorted the problem. Happy days.

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Answer 8

Feb 14, 2014 11:53 PM in response to allanchou

Tried everything and then updated to latest drivers as advised by allanchou and voila...... its back to the way it was meant to be. Thanks alanchou 🙂

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Answer 9

DrVenture

Level 2

180 points

Oct 24, 2010 7:05 AM in response to Madam

Do you have another Mac you can try with the USB to Ethernet Adapter? It might be worth a shot to see if the adapter is bad. It sounds suspect that other USB devices can work in either port on the new MBA, just not the USB to Ethernet Adapter.

Do you have another other USB devices you can try with your MBA's USB ports, to see if they come up?

Have you considered calling Apple Care?

In any event, WiFi Guru has a good suggestion about collecting logging and pasting it here. It might point to something else.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Message was edited by: DrVenture

Message was edited by: DrVenture

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Answer 10

Feb 11, 2012 2:16 AM in response to Madam

Had same problem and found this thread very helpful. To add to it, I was able to use the "Automatic" location by opening its dialog, clicking the + button under the list of interfaces, and selecting USB Internet. Not sure if this would have worked if I hadn't first created a new location - it was when I did this that the device appeared to be recognized.

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Answer 11

Apr 22, 2012 5:48 PM in response to ODP01

MacBookAir3,1

2010 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo

OS 10.6.8

ODP01's answer didn't work for me -- not quite -- I had to innovate on it.

Steps I took and I'm not sure which did the trick:

- Network Settings

- Establish a new location

- USB Ethernet was not recognized

- Created a new USB ethernet connection using the plus in the bottom left

- With it selected, clicked on button Advanced ...

- Ethernet Tab

- Configure: changed from Automatically to Manually

- Speed: 10baseT/UTP

- Duplex: half-duplex

- MTU: Standard

I do not know what these settings do. But suddenly my USB is recognized and works. It hasn't worked previously for months now.

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Answer 12

mimetz

Level 1

14 points

Sep 15, 2011 8:00 AM in response to Madam

I tried all the above with the USB/E'net device, nothing worked on my MBA, took it to a Genius, he re-installed Lion OS from recovery and all was well ;-0)

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Answer 13

JasonFear

Level 5

4,965 points

Nov 4, 2010 1:53 PM in response to signaldecay

Unsure if it's the same issue but on my previous generation MBA, whenever I would plug in my USB-to-Ethernet adapter I had to restart the machine. Only off a fresh restart would it be problem free, yet that same adapter works fine on my Mac Mini and a first generation MBA.

I'd be curious if that resolves your issue. My 11" MBA works fantastic with the same previously problematic adapter so I'm not convinced that the issue is adapter specific.

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Answer 14

Jun 4, 2013 6:21 PM in response to Madam

Puting a router between the computer and the modem solved this problem for me when none of the other suggestions did.

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Answer 15

davberk

Level 1

44 points

Oct 29, 2010 6:57 PM in response to davberk

OK, the solution seems to be to go into Advanced... from the USB ethernet adapter in Network (System Preferences) and then click Renew DHCP Lease.

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